Arc of Infinity

I remember that I was very excited when I first read about this episode back when I was barely a teenager. In those carefree-days of youth where I was teased mercilessly as I was not a jock and had large thick glasses…on second thought they weren’t so carefree at that. Anyway I didn’t know any better and basically was, at that point, obsessing about all things Who from the posters on the wall to making up Doctor Who lyrics to popular songs ("Don’t talk to Cybermen" and "Dalek in the Centerfold" to name a couple). For years we were watching the Tom Baker years with the only glimpse of Peter Davison being that double-chinned face after falling to his regeneration in "Logopolis". Suffice it to say I was very ecstatic. Now, here it is 20 years later. Does the episode hold up? Can I get over my utter hatred at Script Editor Eric Saward whom I consider the man who destroyed Doctor Who? Read on, my children, read on. 

THE PRODUCTION: Producer John Nathan-Turner had planned for the 20th season of Doctor Who to bring back old enemies of the Doctor, which included The Black Guardian, The Mara, The Daleks (which got bumped back a year) and The Master. Script editor Eric Saward was very fond of "The Keeper of Traken" and asked writer Johnny Byrne to submit story ideas. Unbeknownst to Saward, "Traken" was almost completely rewritten by former script editor Christopher Bidmead. It was decided to have Byrne write the first episode of the season with the following stipulations: He had to reunite Tegan with the Doctor and Nyssa (designed as a cliffhanger, and isn’t it nice to see at least one of the characters dressed differently?), he had to incorporate Amsterdam, as JN-T decided to bring the show out of the country for the second time in it’s history (the first being Paris in the hugely successful "City of Death"), and he had to incorporate Gallifrey, which Saward wanted represented because of the show’s anniversary. 

Johnny Byrne came up with a script entitled "The Time of Neman" about the Doctor suffering from nightmares about his regeneration (weren’t we all?). These were happening because an entity from another universe known only as "the Avatar" was trying to permanently become a part of this universe. He takes on the Doctor's form and goes to Amsterdam where he takes over people’s minds. JN-T and Saward had immediate concerns about "Neman", especially that the Amsterdam location was essentially incidental to the plot and that the Doctor’s nightmares were similar to Tegan’s nightmares in "Snakedance". JN-T also wanted another old enemy in place of the character of Avatar. Unofficial Fan Advisor Ian Levine suggested bringing back Omega, who was in the 10th Anniversary story "The Three Doctors". His name came from the letters OHM (WHO backwards and upside down – the anti-doctor, as it were). Byrne re-wrote the episode; titled "The Time of Omega", then finally titled "Arc of Infinity" to make the return of Omega a big surprise (even going so far as to name him "The Renegade" at the end of Episode One so as not reveal the baddie. Which surprises me as any fan of the show was bombarded by pics of Omega in Doctor Who Monthly. So much for secrets.) 

And so we have "Arc of Infinity" a patched-together episode, which exemplifies what’s good and bad about Doctor Who during the Nathan-Turner/Saward years. 

I won’t go too much into the plot. I’m sure all of you have seen it, and if you haven’t then do so and come back. That’s ok. We’ll wait. Have you seen it yet? Good. Let’s continue. 

THE BAD: The episode suffers horribly with the aim to please everybody and in doing so loses any sense of competency. I look at the episodes of that time as the powers that be trying to give people what they think they want as opposed to telling a good story with the characters they have. I have a sneaking suspicion that at this time Doctor Who was looked at a moneymaking machine. How else do you explain Colin Baker’s coat in the next season? Merchandising. And the episodes lost out. 

Let’s take a look at this episode to illustrate the point. Gallifrey is shown as a Draconian military state with Commander Maxil shooting at everything before asking and the High Council is ready to fry the Doctor as if they were located in Texas. These are one of the supreme powers in the galaxy? You don’t see any other inhabitants; probably they’re afraid to come out of their rooms. Someone dies and immediately everyone who could possibly be innocent is placed under house arrest. Reactionary. Trigger happy. Gullible. This is the new Gallifrey. President Borusa’s doing a bang-up job. Where’s K-9 and Leela when you need them? It’s all well and good to bring back Gallifrey, just use it properly. A good story set solely in the TARDIS is worth 100 crappy stories set on Gallifrey. The story takes place in Amsterdam. Or does it? 

So much for going overseas as most of the action takes place on BBC sets. I’ve been to Amsterdam and didn’t see anything that reminded me of it except for 1 canal early on. In the "City of Death" you saw all the sites of Paris. Where were they here? The Van Gogh Museum? Anne Frank’s House? The medieval torture museum? The red light district?! Okay, maybe not there. But you get the point. Why go there when you don’t use the location. And don’t get me started on "The Two Doctors". 

And this Anti-Matter place that Omega’s in. People can walk in and out of it, so can the bird-thing that works for Omega, but Omega can’t because he’s in an anti-matter universe. 

And I just cringe when Tegan whines out "AM-STER-DAM". 

THE GOOD: Peter Davison rocks. And not as the Doctor, but as Omega. When he portrays Omega in the Doctor’s body, you just marvel at his character as he experiences life for the very first time, and you feel empathy for him when he tragically realizes. The loneliness, the pathos, the anger when he realizes he can never exist in our universe: it’s all there and beautifully realized. It’s too bad this theme wasn’t brought through the entire episode. 

God how I wish this season wasn’t as hacked together as it was! 

And let’s not forget Nyssa! She picks up a gun ready to shoot the council. Meow! She rocks in this show. She has the convictions and strength. Okay, I like her! I like her! 

OTHER NOTES: There are two very interesting casting choices in this show: Michael Gough and Colin Baker. Michael Gough, who plays the traitorous Councilor Hedin, is probably best known for his portrayal as Alfred the butler, in the Batman movies, and he also played the Celestial Toymaker in the First Doctor era episode – "The Celestial Toymaker". How apropos. Also part of the cast is the incredibly familiar Colin Baker who played the incredibly two-dimensional captain of the guard, Maxil. Baker was chosen because of his wonderful role on the Blake’s 7 episode "City at the Edge of the World" as Baybon the Butcher, or is it Baybon the Berserker (it’s one of my fave episodes). Other under consideration for the part of Maxil: Tim Woodward and Pierce Brosnan. Though Colin was happy to play Maxil, he was sad because to him it meant he would never be able to play the Doctor. Good thing he was wrong. 

Also of note: though Filming in Amsterdam went well, adoring Dutch fans became a problem when the recognized Peter Davison from his role as Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small. In fact, in a scene at a telephone booth, and though I wasn’t looking for it, rumor has it JN-T is visible in the background trying to chase away onlookers.